Man arrested over the murder of Kyran Durnin ‘is found dead days after telling neighbours his disappearance was ‘nothing to do’ with him’

A man who was arrested over the murder of Kyran Durnin has been found dead just days after reportedly telling neighbours that he was not involved in the child’s disappearance.

The unnamed man, in his 30s, was detained at a Garda station in the east of the country last week in relation to the disappearance of the Co Louth schoolboy.

The arrest came after officers launched searches at houses in two locations in Drogheda as they attempted to find evidence that would reveal details about what happened to the little boy, and where he is.

In a statement today, the Garda confirmed: ‘Earlier today, Tuesday, 17th December 2024, Gardai and emergency services were alerted following the discovery of a body of a male aged in his 30s in a domestic residence in Drogheda, County Louth.

‘The local Coroner has been notified and a post-mortem examination will be arranged. The outcome of the post-mortem will determine the course of the investigation’.

It is understood from early indications that it is a personal tragedy. 

According to the Irish Times, the man had access to Kyran in the period before his last confirmed sighting as a six-year-old in 2022.

He was also known to the Durnin family and a close associate of another chief suspect in the case.

General view of Dundalk in Ireland, where Kyran was reported missing from his home on August 30

The heartbreaking last photo of Kyran Durnin (pictured right) shows the eight-year-old smiling next to his two siblings before he was reported missing

One line of inquiry cops were pursuing was that the dead man helped to cover up the little boy’s disappearance by misleading child protection workers.

In October, Gardai investigated whether another child had been used to impersonate Kyran in order to trick social workers.

The anonymous man was released from Garda custody on Friday evening after being questioned on Kyran’s case for 24 hours on suspicion of murder.

A woman in her 20s was also arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of murder and released without charge on Wednesday evening.

Last week, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said they had been ‘inundated’ with information from the public.

He added: ‘Certainly when we put out an appeal for information, right back on October 14, we were inundated with information from the public. We’re really pleased to see that because that provided us with a lot of leads, a lot of inquiries for us to follow through.

‘As this investigation opens out, we’ll start to learn more about where we are, who the suspects are, and then what we need to do to prove what happened to young Kyran.’

But despite searches in Dundalk in October, and the two Drogheda properties this week, the six-year-old’s remains have still not been recovered.

The deceased man reportedly had a history of violent offending, with sources claiming his sudden death will likely impede the investigation, which has been in place since October.

Kyran was reported missing from his home in Drogheda on August 30 aged eight, with police in Ireland launching the murder investigation just over a month later.

Officers suspect the boy, who was reported missing in the summer, might have died in 2022, when he was six.

Last month the Child and Family Agency, Tusla, sent a report on their engagement with Kyran and his family to the Minister for Children, Roderic O’Gorman.

O’Gorman said he could not disclose or publish any details of the report as there is an ongoing garda investigation into the presumed death of the boy.

Asked whether he identified any failings from the report, O’Gorman previously said: ‘From what I’ve seen, there are elements that are of concern in terms of the overall state response.

‘I asked Tusla to undertake their own review and bring forward any proposals or changes that they need to make to their operations, their procedures.’

In a statement, gardai said: ‘An Garda Siochana continues to appeal to any person with any information on the disappearance and murder of Kyran Durnin, no matter how insignificant it may seem, to contact the Garda investigation team at Drogheda Garda Station on 041 987 4200, the Garda confidential line on 1800 666 111 or speak with any member of An Garda Siochana.’